I'm pleased to present a guest article by journalism student Marc Vincent. The subject is the naming of Meyerasaurus, a topic that links in quite nicely with a previous post. Marc produced the article for his university course. The quotes from myself are the result of an interview Marc conducted as part…
This article might be considered a bit of a cheat, as it's mostly lifted from a section of my recent paper describing the new genus Meyerasaurus, formerly 'Thaumatosaurus'/Rhomaleosaurus victor (Smith and Vincent 2010). However, I think the topic is interesting and might be appreciated by a wider audience. Especially those who think,…
Proper taxonomic names, with formal suffixes, can be confusing at the best of times. But when they include identical prefixes their meaning can be further complicated. For example, to what taxonomic group does the colloquial term 'plesiosaur' refer: Plesiosauria, Plesiosauroidea, Plesiosauridae, or Plesiosaurus? With all these similar sounding names it is not surprising that laypersons and specialists…
Several notable plesiosaur figures were released for 2010. Safari Ltd produced a Walking With Dinosaurs inspired Liopleurodon replica and a 'toob' containing an array of small marine reptiles and other prehistoric marine critters. Papo produced an unusual Plesiosaurus. These figures are reviewed and photographed in detail over at The Dinosaur Toy Blog: Liopleurodon…
Monstertalk is a new sceptical podcast focussing on all things cryptozoological. The most recent episode (episode 004) delves into the idea that plesiosaurs may still be alive today, lurking in lochs and lakes around the world - the so called Plesiosaur Hypothesis. I was interviewed as a guest on this episode and…
The recent 'Sea Dragons of Avalon' symposium in Street was a great success - congratulations to everyone involved. See Darren Naish's blog Tetrapod Zoology for a full report - part 1 and part 2. I thoroughly enjoyed the event and it was an excellent opportunity to meet up with colleagues and even…
Well, my flight, hotel and annual leave (!) are booked and I'm looking forward to attending the upcoming Palaeontological Association Review Seminar: Sea Dragons of Avalon, taking place next week (Friday 31st July) in Street, Somerset, UK. Although I posted details on my website months ago and despite my best intentions, I…
The TCD specimen of the plesiosaur Attenborosaurus has spent the last few weeks being prepared and painted for eventual display in the geology museum. The plesiosaur was renamed in 1993 to honour Sir David Attenborough, who was recently awarded an honorary degree from TCD; we therefore took the fine opportunity to combine his…